differentiate the different skills needed to effectively facilitate an online course.
Questions that will be answered in this portion:
What are the phases of development for distance faculty?
When do online faculty transition between stages, and when is it appropriate to do so?
The Phases of Online Faculty Development
Our experience in conducting faculty development for online teaching spans well over a decade and has demonstrated to us that faculty do indeed go through phases of development. Palloff and Pratt (2011) identified five distinct phases, which they called
Visitor—those faculty who have toyed with the idea of technology integration in their face-to-face classes and who may have posted a syllabus or assignments online or used e-mail for assignment completion.
Novice—those faculty who have never taught online and who may or may not have taken an online course as a student but have consistently posted a syllabus online and have used some communications technologies to supplement their face-to-face teaching.
Apprentice—those faculty who have taught online for one or two terms. They may have taught more than one course per term. They are developing an understanding of the online environment and the skills required to teach online.
Insider—those faculty who have taught more than two semesters online and have taught more than one course per term. They feel comfortable in the online environment, are proficient with course management technology, and have basic understanding of the skills needed for online teaching. They may have designed one or more online courses.
Master—those faculty who have taught online for multiple terms and have designed several online courses. They have mastered the technology required to teach online and are likely to have integrated technology beyond the course management system into their teaching. They feel extremely comfortable with the skills required to teach online and can be called upon for peer support for newer online faculty.
The Components Within Phases of Online Faculty Development
Palloff and Pratt (2011) noted that instructors who are new to online facilitating or those who have been doing it for a few years may fall in different phases at any given time. Palloff & Pratt (2011) identified 4 components that are present within each phase listed above.
Personal—focusing on the instructor as a person and including such elements as establishing presence and developing confidence in one’s ability to teach online
Pedagogy—focusing on the skills and techniques involved with teaching online and on online scholarship, including an understanding of the theories that undergird online teaching and the ability to develop an online learning community.
Content—focusing on the discipline the faculty member represents and how that content is best disseminated online.
Technology—focusing on the development of skill with the course management system in use, choosing technologies that meet learning objectives, as well as adjunct technologies that might be incorporated into the development of an online course as well as teaching.
Palloff and Pratt created the following diagram to depict how Online Faculty go through each phase of their development.
Questions that will be answered in this portion:
The Phases of Online Faculty Development
Our experience in conducting faculty development for online teaching spans well over a decade and has demonstrated to us that faculty do indeed go through phases of development. Palloff and Pratt (2011) identified five distinct phases, which they calledThe Components Within Phases of Online Faculty Development
Palloff and Pratt (2011) noted that instructors who are new to online facilitating or those who have been doing it for a few years may fall in different phases at any given time. Palloff & Pratt (2011) identified 4 components that are present within each phase listed above.Palloff and Pratt created the following diagram to depict how Online Faculty go through each phase of their development.